MARVEL Photon: the Primes
by PhotonCommander10
Summary: Afghanistan, a hidden nuclear development facility is destroyed. Australia, a Japanese super soldier test site is destroyed. Japan, a mall and the secret labs beneath are destroyed. The only clues left are video footage with a message, "We are Kang". A terrorist organisation is working against the various countries of Earth, and it needs protecting.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers and other established characters appearing in this fan fiction, they belong to Marvel. Any and all OC's belong to me.**

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This is sort of like an Ultimate Universe concept, with different origins. It won't be majorly drastic, but remember there WILL be changes to origins, so don't freak out!

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Also to note is that not all chapters will be the same length. It just depends on where I feel the chapter should end.

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Steven Rogers falls from a plane, toward the freezing water. He looks up at the face of his comrade, James Buchanan Barnes. They stare into each other's eyes, before Steve's close and he loses consciousness. James punches the man who had thrown his best friend out of the plane. The red-skinned Nazi merely laughed. "Bucky" finds himself being slammed against a broken pipe. He gasps in pain as blood splashes out across the floor. He turns his head to look at the wound. The pipe has gone straight through his shoulder and torn across, his left arm barely attached. He cries out in pain. The Red Skull approaches him, a knife at hand.  
James is the next to be thrown out of the plane. Thoughts race through his mind, memories from across his life. As his body splashes into the ocean, he sees Steve's body sinking below him. He reaches out for his friend, who is too far from his reach. His best friend disappears into the darkness, and James loses all hope. His eyes close, and a sudden warmth rushes over him.

"Sir, I think he's waking up." BEEP BEEP BEEP! "Get an oxygen tank! He's having trouble breathing!"  
"This man shouldn't even be alive!" SHHHNNNG!  
"Welcome to 2013, Captain Rogers."  
"B…b…bu…bucky…"

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**VILLAINS!**

Just so any readers know, the main villain will be revealed in the next issue, but won't play a major part.


	2. World on Fire: Part 1

**Tokyo, Japan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1**

Tsunon Sasuki walks through the streets. His shirt pocket conceals a SHIELD badge, and the inbuilt communicator. He enters a shopping mall and immediately disappears among the crowd, pushing his way to the nearest escalators. He reaches the top, and looks up through the glass dome above. He sees his target, a man in a black, skintight suit, with glowing green lines running across. The target looks down at the agent, his blue mask hiding his expression. All he gives is a thumbs up, before clicking his fingers.

VWOOSH! Blue energy pulses through the mall, people are knocked over, some being killed on contact. Blood splashes up the walls and shop window. The building begins to collapse. The agent pulls his badge out, and presses the head of the eagle depicted in the logo, "Director Fury! I was too late, I'm sorry! Kang beat me."

**Tokyo, Japan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 8**

**Alaska, USA, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1**

Don Blake sits in a bar, chugging a jug of beer. "You might as well leave, Fury. I'm not going back."

The one-eyed Fury sits down next to him. "Ten bucks says I can bring you back." He slams a file down onto the counter and slides it in front of Don. "There's an…emergency. One that only you can sort out. Well, only you and Tony."

"First you try bringing me back to the organisation that stabbed me in the back, then you try partnering me with the man who stole my notes to build that retched suit of his! You've really drank a few too many in the helicopter."

Fury sighs heavily, "At least listen to what I have to say."

Slamming his jug on the counter, sending a thin crack up the side, Don turns to Fury, "Fine."

"Two weeks ago, SHIELD received word of a terrorist scheme to attack the most powerful governments in the world." He opens the file, showing pictures of the Tokyo destruction.

"Then why was Japan bombed? America has more nukes, more power, than them."

"Japan isn't as powerful army wise, but the technology there is…well…amazing. That's what I assumed they were bombed for. But what I didn't know, is that in reality, an organisation in Tokyo had recently developed what could be classed as a super soldier serum. We learnt this three days ago, the bomb went off. The only thing we know, is that the organisation behind it is called Kang. Only one bomber has been seen at the three sites, but intel says there are more, creating, planning, and preparing."

"Three? I've only heard of Tokyo."

Laughing, Fury continues, "Afghanistan, four days ago, a previously unknown nuclear warhead development facility was destroyed by the same bomb. When SHIELD arrived, the warheads had been cleared out, with only the files left behind. You can see why that bombing was kept secret." He pulls out a document showing images of the facility, then another showing a desert. "Five days ago, a bomb went off in the Australian outback. The funny thing about this one, is that it was an Austalian-funded, Japanese-run experimenting facility for the very serum that led to the destruction of three blocks of Tokyo. But the serum is nothing, as far as we're aware, there hasn't been any problems with it, no rogues or anything."

"Why did you bring me in then? My area of expertise is super soldiers. If that's not why…"

"Kang. We want you to help with the Kang situation. You and Tony. You're both smart, you've both got technology strapped to you bodies, and you've both got something in common: you're nerds who spend your days in laboratories and at celebratory cocktail parties."

"I want a room in that fancy new facility of yours, my old department back, Dr Banner at my side again, and Pym to be moved to the other end of the facility to where I work. I don't want to see the face of that rat ***tard."

"Done, done and done." Fury smiles, closes the file and puts it under his arm. "When will we be seeing you?"

Don stands up, "I'm done here." He pulls a SHIELD badge out of his pocket and waves it to the bartender, "We weren't here."

Don walks away, leaving Fury wondering why he kept the badge.

He rushes after Don, who pushes the door open and enters the cold night air. He walks over to a crowd of people and pushes through. Getting to the middle, he sees his large, metal hammer, with three men trying to lift it. "That would be mine." They step back.

"Good luck lifting it."

He grabs the handle and lifts with no effort at all, then walks away. He approaches Fury. "The copter will be here any minute. We'll be back in New York by tomorrow morning."

"I'll see you then." He swings his hammer, then smacks it on the ground, disappearing in a roaring flash of lightning.

**Foster Live Studio, New York City, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1**

"Mr Stark, It's my understanding that your latest technological breakthrough, the RepulsorTech, is due to be handed over to SHIELD sometime in the next week. Are the rumours of this true?"

Tony sits in the red seat opposite Jane Foster. "The RepulsorTech will be remaining in my possession. But if Director Fury wants to attempt to develop his own, then I say good luck. It took me five years to crack it."

"What about Iron Man? Will the RepulsorTech be implemented on it?"

Stark laughs, "Of course. The RepulsorTech research was only continued after the great Stark Fall 0f 2012 because of Iron Man. RepulsorTech, as we speak, is being built into the Iron Man armour by my lovely artificial intelligence, JARVIS." He winks at the camera.

"So what you're saying is, you're taking the second greatest super soldier weapon on the planet, and making it even more powerful?"

"Second? Who would be first?"

"Well, Thor of course. You don't mean to say that you believe him below you, do you?"

"I think Thor is hyped up a bit more than he should be. His God Complex is bad enough as it is, don't fuel it." As he says it he flinches, as if expecting Don to appear and beat him. "I'm not saying the old doctor hasn't created ground breaking technology, but he definitely isn't the best out there." He looks straight at the camera. "Don, if you're watching this, I have a message. Iron Man could beat Thor any day. I'd like to see you try."

**SHIELD Summit, former Manhattan bay, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1**

Hank Pym sits in his lab, watching the television screen. Next to him sits Janet Van Dyne, and his intern Scott Lang. "Stark is begging to be smacked in the face by Don."

"You're the one to talk. He actually did hit you." Janet laughs, then strokes her boyfriend's arm, "But you're changed."

"I just hope Don sees that." He bites his lip, "Anyway, we should get going." He takes his lab coat off and grabs his briefcase, "See you tomorrow, Scott. If we're lucky, Fury will give us permission to test the formula as well."

Janet hugs Hank, and the two set off. "Bye Scott!" She winks as they leave the room.

The two enter the elevator. "What are you playing at?"

"Sorry, what?" Janet looks confused.

"You're flirting with Scott. What are you getting out of it? A happy time in the decontamination chamber? I don't think so. What are you doing?"

"Are you saying I couldn't get him if I wanted?" She was angry, and tired of Hank talking in a condescending way.

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying even you're not slutty enough to cheat."

Janet gasps, "So that's what you think of me? I'm a slut?"

"Oh come on, Jan! You dress like a downtown prostitute!" He suddenly feels her hand slap him across the face. "Keep your hands off of me!"

"You know what? I might just do that!" She takes the engagement ring off of her finger and throws it on the floor and stomps on it. After the loud crack, she turns to face the elevator doors as they open. "We're through Hank! No relationship, no…dirty hand grabbing, no nothing! She marches across the lobby. Hank stands in the elevator, shocked. He looks down at the ring, and picks up the pieces.

**Paranormal Examination, Guard And Scientifically Undertaken Search (PEGASUS) Facility, Arizona, SHIELD Danger Classification: 6**

The brown-haired Maria Hill marches down the main hallway. "Open all gates through sectors 7 and 11, I want to get straight through!" She pulls her hand away from the communicator in her ear. The door before her opens, and she marches through the large room, not even looking at the various artefacts around her. The next door opens, and through it she sees the next doors open, and the next. She enters the final room, turns left and heads into sector 10. She stands on a circular pad in the middle of the room, which immediately lowers. "Okay, explain what's going on. Don't hold back any details."

"At 23:09 yesterday, the rod became active. It began releasing energy, and emitting flashes of light every three minutes. It's been under constant surveillance, and it's shown no signs of dangerous activity. However, we have kept our distance in case something was to happen."

"Get Fury on the line. He'll want to hear about this." The platform she stands on finishes lowering in the massive underground chamber that houses the rod in question. "How has the evacuation gone?"

"99% of the PEGASUS Agents have evacuated, with the remaining 1% standing in this very room."

Maria looks at the four other people, "Okay, lets' get this sucker launched."

She puts on a pair of thick, black, armoured gloves. "Get the case open." She approaches the podium, where the scarlet-coloured rod sits in an artificially generated magnetic field. She grabs the staff, and takes it to the case, which is held open by two of the agents. As soon as she places it inside, the two let go of the lid and it slams shut, and a number of clicks are heard. Three glass tubes run along the lid, with another two on the side. The tubes are filled with a bubbling pale blue liquid, which is sucked to one end of the pipe, straight into the internal area of the container. "Okay, it's isolated. Get the rocket ready."

The fourth member approaches a door in the wall, and presses numbers on the keypad. The door opens, revealing a set of double doors, with thick glass windows built in. The double doors open, and Maria places the case inside. "Commander Hill, what if this doesn't work? I understand that the rocket has been stabilised, but what if the rod reacts?"

"This rod is about to be heated to melting point within 73 seconds of these doors closing. It won't be doing anything." The double doors close automatically, and Maria closes the other one. "It's getting launched into the Earth's mantle, it'll be done with soon."

A loud crackle, followed by the sound of metal crashing signals the pod the case lies in has been launched. "No!" KREEK! The doors are forced open, and the concrete wall cracks apart. The metal walls of the pods' initial descent are pulled away and dragged back up. "The rod belongs to me!" Maria looks up to see a man in a black, skintight suit, glowing green lines and a blue mask. The case is dragged up into the air. Maria fires at the man, but her bullets seem to be deflected. The container breaks apart and the attacker grabs the rod, shaking the liquid off. "A chemical created to neutralise the energy outflow, clever. However did you ever think that its' true owner would be able to notice his prize jewel dropping off the map? The Scarlet Centurion is mine, and it will stay that way." He disappears in a flash of blue light.


	3. World on Fire: Part 2

**SHIELD Summit, former Manhattan bay, SHIELD Danger Classification: 4**

"In light of the attack on the PEGASUS Facility, SHIELD has now put in place the Vision Protocol." The announcer's voice booms through the building. "Starting 1300 today, 27 Vision Androids will be patrolling the surrounding area. All Agents and Scientists are asked to keep away from the androids, and remain working as usual. Agents are also to report for a briefing in the Sub-Room, starting in 33 minutes. Director Fury has also asked me to thank you on his behalf for your cooperation."

The agents sit in the underground Sub-Room. Nick Fury stands at the front, talking to Clint Barton. "Do whatever it takes. Find him. Take him out."

Barton nods, "Director Fury, I can have his head on your desk by this time next week. I just need some strategizing, weapons access and time to assassinate."

Nick nods and waves him away. He turns to face the crowd of Agents and yells, "Okay, as you're aware, PEGASUS has been attacked. It's been in every announcement for the past three days. What you don't know however, is the culprit." He presses a button on a small remote and an image of Kang appears behind him. "We are unaware of his name, but we are aware of the organisation he works for." The Agents smile, "The organisation is called Kang. We know of its existence through a recorded message sent to us by an anonymous ally."

Fury presses another button and the screen behind him shows the video. The Kang bomber stands across the room from the person filming it. "We are to understand that you are an ally of SHIELD. So therefore I have a message for you to pass on. We are Kang, dedicated to the destruction of the world's most powerful entities. You might be happy to know that SHIELD isn't high on our list of targets. You're in fact near the bottom. I personally will be taking care of our targets, as I'm the one who was shadowed. Consider yourselves unlucky. I'm the one who has a history of oppression, specifically caused by your precious Director Fury. But we're not here for revenge, we're here to prove that SHIELD, and the United States isn't all it's hyped up to be. We're going to show you that there are powers out there much greater than you." The video turns static.

"He's said some negative comments about me, that I let you hear. So you know how serious I am about this. I want them…"

The video returns. The Kang member stands close to the camera, his masked face taking up most of the screen, "Hello Director Fury and his…let's say little soldiers. You're now watching a private message from your friendly neighbourhood Kang." He puts his finger over the slit that acts as the mask's mouth, "Shhh! You'll miss the best part." He picks up the camera and turns it, showing Big Ben in London, England. "Up until now, you've seen our nice, little warm ups. Now it's time to start the list of big threats. Starting with ye olde England." The camera turns back to the bomber, "Believe it or not, this is live!"

Fury reacts, calling into his communicator, "He's in London! MI13, if you're getting this, Kang is in London!"

"Now, the best part about this, is that you can see Fury's reaction. Is he calling MI13?" Kang laughs, "He's not. Because he turned his communicator off before the meeting." The Agents gasp, not able to do anything about the bomber. "You may be wondering how we know this. But that's my little secret. But I'll tell the Primes when they come."

"WHAT!?" Fury yells. He turns to Clint, "How does he know about that!?" Clint shrugs his shoulders.

"Fury has been an icon to the American people for years. So I wonder what will happen, when he finds out MI13 are watching. And SWORD. And the leaders of England, France, Australia, Russia and Germany. His name is now black marked. But my favourite part about all of this, is that every single television screen on the planet, is now about to see Big Ben get blown to smithereens!" He turns the camera to face it again. "And 3…2…1…" Big Ben suddenly explodes, Kang's signature blue energy pulsing away from it, chunks of stone, metal shrapnel, and glass fly in all directions. "Nicholas Damien Fury, I have now effectively destroyed your reputation. Good luck." He sniggers, "I said WE weren't here for revenge, however I am. And Goodbye." The video turns static and disappears.

Fury sits on the edge of the slightly raised platform, and rests his head in his hands.

**Asgard Nightclub, Manhattan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1**

Don Blake sits in one of the upstairs rooms, on the red leather couch. "It's good to be back." He smiles, sipping at his beer.

"Glad to have you back. Sorry about the…um…***hole treatment I gave you." Hank sits on the sofa opposite, a glass of wine in his hand. "So, how did Alaska treat you?"

"It was nice to get away from SHIELD for a while. Three months was just enough to get my head cleared of all the distractions." He smiles at Hank, happy they were on civil terms once more.

Hank leans forward, puts his glass on the table between them and asks nicely, "What happened with the coma?"

Don gulps, "I woke up one day, and saw bright lights everywhere I went. Started hearing voices in my head, what I assume to be past memories coming to me, and then I collapsed into a coma. When I woke up a week later, I felt completely fine, like nothing had happened. Well, besides the occasional headache."

"Tell him the truth."

"Two pills in the morning get rid of that thought, so it's all good." He laughs.

"Lying won't get you anywhere."

"So you're all good? Nothing else at all?"

"Tell him!"

Dr Blake stands up and stretches. Approaching the television, he asks, "What's been up in the world? I haven't really stayed in contact with…well, the world." He grabs the remote and flicks through the channels, stopping at the news."

"Nothing much. Nelson Mandela's in hospital. The Australian Labour Party had a battle of the prime ministers. SHIELD has officially ended all connections to Syria given the civil war, and just this morning Director Fury was given a big black mark across his name."

"I heard about that." He bites his lip, "Serves him right really. Like that Kang fellow said, Fury obviously didn't care enough to tell MI13. I feel bad for England to be honest. I understand Fury has some issues with England, but that was the lowest of the low." Images of the Big Ben massacre flash across the screen. "Why now? Why…" He realises something, and rushes to the table, pulling his laptop out of his bag on the floor. "The travel distance between Afghanistan and Australia, takes over 14 hours. Plus there'd be the travel from the Nuclear Warhead facility, to whatever mode of transport. Given the isolation of the facility in the desert, that'd take at least an hour. Then, there's about a three hour drive from anywhere along the northern coastline of Australia to the location of the testing site, giving a grand total of 17 plus hours. But the thing is, the bombings were only 15 hours apart."

"How can that be possible? All the footage has shown the exact same man at each of the sites. Same height, width, body proportions, everything. So what…? Does he have an identical twin? Some sort of new super-fast form of vehicle?" Hank stands and looks at the television. "Wow, this is pretty fun. Maybe next we can work on proving Stark's fraud."

Don looks up and smiles, "That'd be nice." He types on his laptop, "There has to be something missing. Something…something not right."

"What if they use voice changers to sound the same. It's not the same person, but in fact people imitating one person." He smiles. "This is exciting."

"Yes, it is." He looks at Hank, "We should team up more often."

**Stark Tower, Manhattan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 2**

"Mr Stark, you seem to not be understanding. The entire pharmaceutical division has gone bankrupt! It's one of your company's biggest sources of income. You are potentially losing millions."

Tony just sits in his chair behind his desk, "If it goes bankrupt, it goes bankrupt. What can I do?"

"A small loan from you could…"

Tony interrupts Dr Hogan, "I don't give out loans. Tough luck. Pharmaceuticals were last year anyway."

"But…but…" He becomes angry, "You know what? No! I've been with this company for 20 years! I'm not leaving because you let my department go bankrupt! Who do you think you are!? You say Don's got a God Complex, at least he has morals! He joined SHIELD again at the drop of a hat to help stop a terrorist threat! You? You're letting one of your biggest divisions crumble apart!"

"Out."

"Sorry, what?"

"Get out! You're fired!"

Dr Hogan frowns, "Fine! With the state of the company under your leadership, it's actually a relief!" He storms out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Tony stands and looks out the glass wall behind his desk. He looks across at the SHIELD Summit, watching bolts of lightning shoot up from the ground. He frowns, "Constantly outshining everyone!" He spins around and knocks a stone statue of his armour off of his desk, causing it to smash on the marble floor.

**SHIELD Summit Outdoor Training Centre, SHIELD Danger Classification: 7**

Don stands inside a white circle painted on the ground. Bruce Banner stands about twenty metres away, "Okay, we'll try this again. Try and hit the target." He looks at the massive generator, which has a red circle painted on it.

"Can't you just plug it into the mains? Or I could put the hammer up close!"

"Mains wouldn't give it the sudden charge it needs to start up. And a close up shot would overload it. My calculations put you at having to stand within that circle and shoot, or it will be either too much or too little."

Don sighs, "Okay, here we go!" He swings the hammer, and as it comes into the position of pointing at the red circle, he squeezes the handle, a blast of electricity shooting out. However, not fast enough and it misses, instead shooting upwards. "Damn it!"

"Stop stressing Don. Stress and anger can cause all sorts of problems." He smiles, "It might be better inside."

"No, that'll cause too much damage."

"Oh, no no no. This energy generator is going to be placed in a chamber lined with rubber. It's a defence in case of some sort of overload. If the generator explodes, we don't want electricity flying everywhere." He looks at Don's hammer, "Well, any more." Bruce yells to a group of soldiers, "Excuse me! Would you mind helping me get this back inside?" The soldiers hurry over and begin pushing it in.

"Where's it going, doc?"

"To its' chamber." He smiles, and looks up at the SHIELD skyscraper. "It's pretty amazing, to be honest."

Don looks up as well, impressed with the building, "Yeah. I was surprised Fury wanted a skyscraper to be honest. He always seemed more of the 'island fortress' kinda guy. You know, man-made island with a massive base on it."

"That sounds like him."

Don sees Fury march out of the building, "Speaking of the devil. Fury! I have some…" He stops, noticing six black-uniformed soldiers behind, guns pointed at Fury himself. "Fury, what's happening?" The soldiers stop, one of them stretching their hands out and grabbing Nick's shoulder to signal him to stop. A SHIELD jet rolls along the concrete area, stopping metres from the soldiers. "Fury! What's happening?"

"That f***ing Kang has caused the SHIELD Executive Council to have me removed from my position as Director." Fury looks angry, "They're taking me to a location that's apparently classified so they can't tell me. They've already found my replacement. See ya, Don. Nice knowing you." He turns away, not wanting to look at Don, as he's marched into the back of the jet.

"He may have been many things, but at least Fury respected his agents."

Bruce watches the jet as it begins to race along the runway. "As far as bosses go, he was okay, I guess."

"Nicholas Damien Fury has been removed of his position as Director of SHIELD. Any employees unhappy with this decision are asked to either accept this turn of events, or leave." The announcers' voice booms through the building and across the concrete runway. The jet lifts off the ground, with almost everyone in the building looking out the window, watching it fly away.


	4. World on Fire: Part 2-point-1

**Unknown Location, SHIELD Danger Classification: N/A**

"You had ONE task! And you couldn't even do it!" A man paces the small room, hidden all the time in the shadows. "When he hears about this, you're dead!"

Kang sits in a metal chair, his mask hiding the disappointed face. "I'm sorry! I…I didn't realise…"

"You were supposed to make sure the bomb injured Stark! But instead? Instead you blow up Big Ben! All part of your revenge plan!" The man sighs, "You're lucky though. I'll try and talk him out of killing you. You and your gang of merry henchmen better hope I can talk him out. God, it's like organising toddlers.

"You can understand why I did it though. Given mine and his, um…relations."

"I understand your dilemma, but that doesn't mean he won't kill you!" The man punches the wall, "Finish this task off, and it might help him keep you."

Kang nods, and disappears in a flash of blue light.

**United Airlines Flight 175, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1, Date: September 11 2001**

Kang steps out of the blue light, marching down the aisle. Approaching the cockpit, he pulls out a high-tech gun and knocks down the door to the cockpit. He knocks the door down and before the pilot and co-pilot can do anything, he turns off the communication systems. "September 11th. An iconic day in American history. So…how about we make history?" He pulls out a second gun and points one at each of the pilots, "You're going to do as I say, or you'll get your brains blown out. Understood?"

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A small look into the life of Kang. As well as a sneak peek at some other terrorist attacks he may or may not have been part of.


	5. World on Fire: Part 3

Now to take some time away from Kang and his merry-bombings, to give some more insight into Tony's bag of selfish acts. But no need to worry, Kang will be back next chapter, with more twists and turns!

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**SHIELD Summit, former Manhattan Bay, SHIELD Danger Classification: 7**

Tony marches down a corridor of one of the upper floors, heading for the conference room.

"Mr Stark, it would appear as though SHIELD is still without a Director. I would recommend walking away, it may be some sort of ambush." The artificial intelligence, JARVIS, rings through Tony's earpiece.

"No can do, JARVIS. If it's an ambush, I'm taking it like a man."

As Tony walks into the room, Don chuckles, "You've never been a man in your life." Tony scowls at him. Looking across the table, he sees Hank and Bruce, along with three armed guards behind them.

"Why did you call me here?"

"We want to…talk to you." Hank leans forward, resting his hands on the glass table. "Why did you steal the RepulsorTech?"

"I don't know what you're…"

A screen behind Don shows footage of Tony taking a file off of Hank's desk, labelled 'RepulsorTech'. "It would seem the footage says otherwise." Don taps the table, impatiently. "So? Are you going to tell us?"

"Come on, like you were going to finish the work yourself!"

"It WAS finished!" Hank yells across the room, enraged. "You just slapped the name StarkTech onto it and claimed it as your own. You lying, manipulative…"

"Hank!" Bruce tries to calm him down, while Don speaks up. "Fury wouldn't have allowed us to call you in like this. Don't care what the next Director would say, his judgement isn't on us yet." He stands up, "Give Hank credit, or so help me you won't move for a week!"

"What are you going to do? Electrocute me?" Tony stands and walks towards Don. "I'll sue you faster than you can say Mjolnir." He pokes Don's chest, "You can't touch me. You can't prove that I stole anything." Stark looks at the video, "You could have edited that footage to appear as you wanted." He laughs, "I am immune. Put it however you like, you so much as lay a muscled finger on me, I'll grab your entire fortune."

Don takes several deep breaths. Clenches his fists, and sits down. "You win this time. But we will get revenge on you, some way or another." He points to the door, "Get out."

Tony smiles as he fixes his collar and begins to walk away. "I'm immune." He chuckles, "I'm immune." He bursts into straight out laughter, and as he walks out the door yells, "I'm immune!"

"You'll get him, sometime." Bruce walks to the door, "Are you okay to help start up the generator?"

Don nods, "I'll be down when I can." Bruce leaves the room, "Are you okay, Hank?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That ***hole just got under my skin for a moment there." He looks out the glass wall at the city outside. "There probably isn't a single apartment or office out there that doesn't have the word 'Stark' in it somewhere. He has everything, why can't he leave some for the rest of us?" He rises to his feet and leaves. "I'll see you at Asgard, tomorrow."

"See you there." Hank closes the door behind him. Instantly, Don grabs his hammer. He swings 'Mjolnir' and smashes it into the table, shattering the glass and crippling the metal frame. "That ***hole isn't pulling this game anymore."

**Stark Vaults, below Stark Tower, SHIELD Danger Classification: 2**

Tony enters his 'Hall of Armours', a large room, that holds all eight armours he'd created. He looks at the first six armours, each with a large red cross on their chests, and the word 'FAIL' spray painted onto them. He then draws his eyes to the seventh, red and gold, boxy armour. He bites his lip, "My first success." He smiles, "A great one at that." He then looks up the steps at the larger, smoother armour on display, the Mark 8, and his current one. He feels an arm slide down his chest. Looking over his shoulder, he sees his girlfriend, Juniper Potts, standing right behind him.

"I missed you." She smiles, he puts his hands on her waist.

"I was only gone an hour."

"An hour alone in bed is a lot for me." She begins to pull him, "Let's get back in bed."

"I can't right now." He tries walking to the armour.

She pulls on him again, "One round? The flight will give you some time to recover for today's fifth round." She winks at him the moment he looks at her.

"Sorry, can't. As soon as I get back. No more than twenty minutes, I promise." She lets go of Tony, who almost falls forward when she does. He walks to the armour, which opens as he approaches. He turns and walks backwards into it. As it closes on him, he winks at his girlfriend and says, "Get the candles ready." The helmet closes and seals, lights appearing before him. A large circular door in the ceiling opens, revealing a tunnel that runs all the way up through the building, and out the top. The jets in his boot roar into life, and he's propelled straight up, through the tunnel. Bursting out the top, he quickly turns and shoots across the sky.

CLANG! The armour is hit, and Tony is flung across the sky. His armour shuts down, leaving him useless as he hits the top of a building and slides across, almost falling off the edge. "You've crossed the line!" Tony looks up at Don.

"How do you put up with yourself? I just told you not half an hour ago that I'm immune! Because of this you'll be hearing from my…"

"Iron Man has lawyers?" Don laughs, "I don't remember Iron Man telling me he was immune. I remember the low life scum that is Tony Stark telling me. I was just flying about New York, when I saw an unregistered, armed machine flying towards the SHIELD Summit." He looks down at Tony, "A possible terrorist threat."

"F*** you! You know it's me!"

"Sorry? What's that? I can't understand you!"

"You know I'm Tony!" Stark becomes angry. He tries to stand up, but the weight of the armour is too much for him to lift by himself.

"How could I know that? Pull back that helmet to prove it!"

Tony tries to open the helmet with the hand controls. "I can't! It's too heavy!"

"Ah, so that's how it is? Try tricking me out by claiming the helmet doesn't off? Sorry, won't work."

"My helmet won't open because my armour shut down! Which FYI, is you fau…son of a b****!" He tries to stand, "So that's your play? Setting me up? You're smarter than I gave you credit for!" Don squeezes the handle of his hammer, and electricity begins to run along the surface of the main section of the hammer.

"How could I have set you up? You're a possible terrorist threat that I just became aware of not three minutes ago."

"I'll sue your ass! You f***ing sh**!"

"Sue me? How can you do that?" Don crouches down, "I stepped in to stop a possible terrorist threat, I'm immune." Tony's jaw drops. He tries to speak, but mere mumbles come from his mouth. "So, let's put it this way: You're being disposed of." He thrusts his hammer up and swings down, squeezing the handle harder. A massive blast of electricity fires down into the Iron Man armour.

A computerised voice echoes through the armour, "Armour online." Another quick blast to the helmet, and Tony's faceplate seals to the main bulk of the helmet.

CLANG! Tony finds himself being flung away. Don takes several steps back, runs and jumps off the edge dropping slightly before flying up and forwards towards Stark. "You're selfish, Stark! You took MY technology and turned it into that retched armour! You're nothing more than a liar, and a cheat!" He grabs the armour's ankle midair and changes his flight path, dragging Tony along with him. He throws Tony down into Central Park. He skids across the ground, dragging up soil with him. Don lands on the ground with a thud and walks forward, using the residual speed from his flight to catch up to Tony. "It wasn't even you who created the repulsors! You know Hank spent years working on it, and then you steal his research the moment his back is turned, and claim it as your own! You're pathetic!"

"Don! Please! I'm…I'm s…"

CLANG! Iron Man is knocked to the side, his helmet denting. "I spent four years creating the 8TW ThorGod Technology! You're lucky your selfish, thieving mind didn't take that as well! Because otherwise your lesson wouldn't be taught!" He smacks Tony over and over, scratching and denting the armour.

"DON! PLEASE!" Inside the suit, Tony screams in terror. Tears stream down his face. "I'M S…"

"I'm going to pound you into the Earth, as long as it takes before you get the hint and work on something original!" With one final smash, Tony's armour shuts down once again. With the weight lifting systems turning off, the heaviness of the metal is suddenly felt by Tony. "It's too late for sorry!" He stands above Tony, "Your entire life has been worthless!" He yells at the top of his voice, startling the civilians watching, "You're pathetic, Stark!" He crouches down, as electricity begins to run across his body, singeing the silver suit he wears. His red tie darkened by the burns. "Does it pain you to know that all of this…" He taps the armour, "…came from this?" He unbuttons his jacket and pulls up his shirt, revealing metal plating covering his torso. "You stole it all. The next generation of soldier protective gear, and it took you half a year to make it into a run-down, bulkier, version." Standing up again, he increases the electricity, and his entire suit begins to burn off, flaming shreds gently floating to the ground. The metal plating beneath shines reflecting the light of the electricity giving Don an eerie yet majestic glow.

Tony looks up in horror, "Don! Please! I'm sorry! I'll stop! I'll stop doing the same work as others!"

"NO!" ZAP! A bolt of electricity shoots up into the sky. "I don't care about people doing the same work! There are only a certain number of fields to study, there are bound to be overlaps." Tony's armour begins to spark and overheat, making Tony uncomfortable in the heat and static disturbances. "I want you to stop stealing! I want you to stop being an asshole to everyone you come into contact with! I want you to be the hero you claim to be!"

"What…what do you mean?"

"I mean…you're going to act like a hero…like Iron Man…or I'm personally going to dismantle those armours, and that entire fortune of yours." Tony's eyes close, the last words he hears being, "Be somebody."


	6. World on Fire: Part 4

**Back to the main story. Stick around for a surprise visit. A shout out to Artemis Panther, one of my pals and one of the reasons for this chapter's surprise ending. This is also the final part of 'World on Fire', with the next chapter being the first of 'Heroes Don't Exist'. Please review it with your opinions, it'd be greatly appreciated! Of course I'm not going to force you though.**

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**Empire State Building, Midtown Manhattan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 7**

_Stage one: Enter the building_.

A SHIELD Agent enters the building and walks through the lobby. He looks solemn, his face as cold as stone.

_Stage two: Enter elevator._

He steps inside, with the doors closing moments later.

_Stage three: Go up to floor 16_

As he steps out of the elevator, a guard prepares him to walk through a metal detector. He steps through, all clean.

_Stage four: Position in hallway._

He leans against the pillar, and bites his lip, "Oh god."

_Stage five: Detonate_

He takes a deep breath, covers his nose and mouth, and holds. BOOM! Vibrations rush through the building. Blue energy pulses out. The upper floors of the building begin to fall. Mostly localised to within a one-block area, the falling debris crushes pedestrians, causes cars to crash, people to hurry to the roofs and windows of buildings to watch the catastrophe.

Several blocks away, on the roof of a large apartment building, Kang watches the destruction. "Who dares use my technology to do their dirty work?"

**Remote Papua New Guinea, SHIELD Danger Classification: 2, Date: January 8, 2012**

Kang sits on the ground, wearing a wooden mask painted blue. Kids hug him, as he pats them on the head and shoulders.

"The man twice lived. We are happy to have you in our village. The children love you, and the adults admire you. But I do not understand why you are here."

Kang waves the children away, and looks at the elderly man, "I come from the future to…well, rest. I've lived a worthy life. Twenty years from now my place in the world has become redundant. So I came back here, to a time where I fit in."

A young child rushes in, and across the room. The elderly man asks, "What are your purposes for entering?"

"It's him! He's on the television!" She jumps up and taps the 'ON' button. As the picture fades in, Kang looks up at the face of Tony Stark.

He frowns, his face not visible but the creases of around his mask give away his facial expression. "The man who caused me so much pain. The source of my instabilities. Tony Stark and Nick Fury are my sworn enemies, until the day I die!"

"Well then, good thing I know how to help you out."

Kang looks at the doorway. A man in a silver suit and red tie stands before him. The figure runs his fingers through his shiny, ginger hair. He smiles, his bright blue eyes glistening. "And you would be…?"

"A trickster. A powerful trickster. I can give you what you need, in return, you just have to do one…tiny…little…thing."

"Do I get to know what that is, or are you just going to leave me waiting? I warn you, I am an impatient man."

"Do as my master says, and you get everything you want…nay…**need** to exact your revenge. Tony Stark and Nick Fury will know pain like never before." He smiles and holds his hand out, "Are you in?"

"What's your name?"

"Mordecai."

"Sounds like a dependable name." He takes Mordecai's hand, "I'm in."

**Former site of the Empire State Building, Midtown Manhattan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 7**

Standing among the rubble, Don closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths. He hears his heartbeat pounding, dropping his hammer. It hits the ground with a loud thud that echoes across the field of debris. SHIELD Agents hurry around, searching for anybody still alive, with none found. As he falls to his knees, Don hears the screams of people, calling out for their loved ones, and as his face hits the ground, everything turned to silence. Silence and darkness.

**SHIELD Summit, former Manhattan Bay, SHIELD Danger Classification: 8**

Maria Hill sits in what had once been Nick Fury's 'Director Chair'. She watches footage from all over the world. All sorts of bombings, dozens of screens filled with chaos. From those dozens, a mere eight sport the word 'KANG' in the top left corner, indicating the perpetrator of the attacks. "It's all gone mad. How many days until the replacement arrives?"

A man at a desk below yells over, "Two days, ma'am."

"F***. We're all f***ed." She looks at all the screens, "Thanks to Kang, we now have a world of other threats out there. A world on fire. Sh**. I'm on the verge of just giving it up. Ending it all. Launching a nuclear attack on every freaking nation, put the world out of its misery."

"Ma'am, as you are only Acting Director of SHIELD, you don't have the authority to launch nuclear warheads."

"Yeah…I know. Thanks anyway, Sam." She sighs, "He can't get here any sooner?" She sinks into the chair, "This job sucks."

**Latveria, SHIELD Danger Classification: 4**

A blonde man falls from the roof of a building. He hits the ground, landing on his feet. He spins around and punches a soldier that had jumped off after him. "Come on!" He laughs, kicking the soldier into a wall, which cracks in the pressure. "This is easy! At least put up a fight!" He pulls out his gun, "F*** it!" He fires, the bullet hitting his target right between the eyes, no splatter, no mess, he just slides down the wall into a pile on the ground. RING! RING! He pulls out his phone, RING! RING! "Hello? Nathaniel Brock speaking."

"Where the hell are you!? The world is in chaos, and you can't even come to your job early?"

He quickly climbs a wall and stands on the roof of a building, "I'm not supposed to step in for another two days. I follow orders, and my orders told me two days."

"Now isn't time for orders, Nathan."

"It's Nathaniel." He laughs.

"Whatever! Maria is currently buckling under the pressure. You're known for never stressing, that's why you were given this detail. We need you here, now!"

"Sorry, no can do! I'm currently taking care of a HYDRA situation in Latveria. It'll take me into the morning, then I hop on my plane, fly to New York, gotta settle into my apartment and all, then after the first good night's sleep I'll have had in four months, I'll step in and take over from her." He laughs, and elbows a HYDRA soldier behind him. "Just a sec." He spins around, punches the HYDRA agent, then lunges at him, swings his foot around his leg, and trips him over. THUD! Nathaniel points his gun at the neck, and fires. "Okay, so you were saying?" He listens to the person on the phone, while watching the soldier shake and squirm before he dies.

"Fine. But if you're not at the Summit on time, your salary is cut in half." The dead tone rings through Nathaniel's ear.

"F***ing hell. This'll be a long weekend."

**Classified Location, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1**

Nick Fury sits in the living room of the mostly wooden lodge in the middle of a mountain range. He watches the destruction of the Empire State Building. His face solemn, he speaks, "You can stop watching me." He looks up at a camera in the corner.

A female voice fills the room, booming from speakers placed in each corner, "I'm afraid I can't do that. I was designed to watch the inhabitants of the Cabin 24 hours a day. It is my designation to make sure there is video footage of every day of your stay. If you would like some privacy, the bedroom and two toilets are camera-free, and will therefore allow you to partake in activities without my vision."

Speaking of which, "Where are the Visions? Haven't seen any around. I was told there's meant to be a squadron of them patrolling the range."

"All Visions are currently on patrol, camouflaged."

"Proof? I may have been Director of the organisation, but I can't say I fully trust it. Prove to me that I'm being protected!"

"Okay former-Director Fury." A large, gunmetal grey robot lands on the balcony outside. Green lights across its' body makes it look intimidating. "Would you like Vision-744 to return to patrol? Or would you rather keep him here in case of an emergency?"

Fury walks over to the glass door and slides it open. He approaches the Vision robot and strokes the metal chest plate. "Oh, you are a beauty." He smiles, "Probably my best choice as SHIELD Director, having these mass produced and working as SHIELD guards."

"Really? That's what you consider your best decision? No wonder they kicked you out." Fury steps back, surprised. The Vision robot opens up, revealing a man in a black, form-fitting suit. He wears a metal helmet, which has an inbuilt visor.

"Who…who are you!?" Fury pulls a gun out of his pocket and points it at the man.

"I…am the…know…sorry…I want this to be iconic." He thinks for a moment, a smile spreading across the half of his face visible. "I…am your Maker."


	7. Heroes Don't Exist: Part 1

I'm back at school now, and the assignments have started coming in, so chapters will be published further apart. Hopefully not too much though. But yeah, this chapter will hopefully make up for that (I think it does, but everyone will see it differently)

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**Classified Location, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1**

Fury stairs at the man before him, 'Maker'. "How did you find me? How…how!?"

"When one is a master of the human mindset, a location hidden in their memory is merely the flick of a finger away." He chuckles, "So Fury, how've you been?"

"Tell me who you are!"

"I already told you. I am the Maker. I am your Maker, I am the Maker of everybody on this planet." He walks to the edge of the balcony and looks out across the mountain range, "Because of me, this was all possible. Because of me, these Vision robots are here. Because of me, you're here."

Fury laughs, "What are you saying? You created all life? Are you saying you're a time traveller?"

"You seem to think the idea of time travel is ridiculous. However, I can assure you that it is most definitely fact. Funnily enough, it comes from an old colleague of yours." He turns to face Fury again, "Seventeen years from now, Don Blake will develop the world's first time travel device. Two days later, a certain associate of his will take that time travel device and use it to come back and live in the present, arriving in late 2011. January 8th, 2012, that associate, now under the name Kang, is approached by a mysterious man called Mordecai. Mordecai then makes a deal with Kang, and trains him to become the greatest terrorist in human history."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because SHIELD needs a push. And this balcony is currently being watched by four cameras, all of which are being watched by Acting Director Maria Hill, and a room full of SHIELD's tracking team." He looks at one of the cameras, and continues to talk in a happy, excited tone, "If they know I can find Nick Fury in their most secret safe-house, then I show them my abilities. But if that wasn't enough to convince you, my Nanite swarm is now infecting those cameras, and rewiring it. They are now watching a diagram of the bomb that destroyed the Empire State Building. A pressure induced reverse-nuclear detonator. Technology SHIELD is currently working on. Except instead of that nice blue colour, it is my understanding that Dr Banner currently has it green. A dangerous thing. You'll get that joke later." He laughs creepily, "I am here, merely to make an example of SHIELD. But also to pass on a message: Heroes don't exist." He kicks down the wooden rail and steps out, somehow walking mid-air.

"You'll get caught! People like you always do! You think yourself above everybody, and you forget to clean up sometime. People like SHIELD swoop in and arrest you."

"I'm floating right now." He stretches his arms out, and looks up to the sky, "I'm floating, with nothing more than a millimetre-thick suit and a mostly hollow helmet on. I can't be caught. I am a man of the future…no…I am a man of **tomorrow**. I am above you. Just you wait for what's to come." He takes several steps up, as if going up stairs, before turning to look at Fury, "Goodbye, Fury. Too bad what is to happen, **must** happen." He nods, and disappears in a flash of blue light.

Nick stands on the balcony, staring at the point the Maker had just been. He turns his head to look at the hollow Vision robot. "That's it. The world is f***ing screwed."

**SHIELD Summit, former Manhattan Bay, SHIELD Danger Classification: 8**

Maria Hill sits in the Director's Chair. "What did I just see?" She watches the screen in awe.

"This 'Maker' isn't in any of our files. We did facial recognition with the lower half of his face visible, results came up negative. No matches."

"He has to be somebody!" She frowns, "He was talking about the future, what if he's from there? If he is, that would explain why he doesn't match up with anybody."

The tracker stares at Maria, "You don't really believe what he was saying, do you?"

"I didn't at first. But he walked across mid-air, and disappeared all sci-fi-movie-teleport-like. You saw it yourself. I'd keep the possibility that he was telling the truth open." She thinks about the footage, "Somebody call Don in. I want him to see this. It involves him, and he's practically a superhero, he'll think of something."

"Yes, ma'am." Sam types away at his computer, sending the message to Don.

**Asgard Nightclub, Manhattan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1**

Don sits across from Hank, chugging a large jug of beer. "How can you drink so much without getting drunk?"

Don laughs heavily and burps, then replies, "What can I say? Got a bit of German in me." He slams the jug down on the table, which shakes under the force. "So, why am I here?"

"You said you wanted to team-up more often, I've got a case." He pulls out a file from a drawer and drops it onto the table. Don opens it up and looks at the photos of the Empire State Building destruction site. "How did the bottom of it collapse, when the explosion was on the sixteenth floor, and all the debris fell to the sides? The explosion images show the blast going sideways, not up or down. So the bottom sixteen floors collapsed through other means."

"What if there was a second explosion? One at the base. The falling rubble would have masked it, nobody would have noticed." He thinks for a moment, "I think there's something I'm forgetting."

"That's possible. With the amount of debris falling, nobody would notice a second explosion."

"The Empire State Building is also on top of a hidden SHIELD weapons store." Hank looks at Don, shocked. "Not even you knew about it, I assume. Only a small number of people know about out. It's where the hammer was built." He looks at the hammer in the corner. "The first explosion could have been a decoy. That much destruction, and only one explosion noticeable, nobody would have thought about the weapon store." I'll contact hill in the…" DOODADOOODADOODOO! Don looks over to his phone, which lies on the sofa. He picks it up, and reads the text and replies.

[Don. This is Sam, Acting Director Hill's assistant. She's requested your aid in the investigations of the Empire State Building. Report to the Strategic Hindrance, Ingenious Experimentation and Logistics Directorate Summit immediately.]

[On my way.]

_Read 17:08_

"The devil her self's called me in." He picks up the hammer and waves to Hank, "I'll tell her our theory. I'll tell you how it went afterwards."

"See ya another time then."

**SHIELD Summit, former Manhattan Bay, SHIELD Danger Classification: 8**

Don stands next to Maria in a small, dark room. A large screen on one wall shows the footage from Fury's lodge. _"I can't be caught. I am a man of the future…no…I am a man of __**tomorrow**__. I am above you. Just you wait for what's to come."_

"So what is he? Another terrorist?"

Hill laughs, "By SHIELD standards, he's not a terrorist. We don't have any straight out proof he did it, just a subtle reference."

"Okay then, he hacked SHIELD files to track down Fury. That has to be a crime." Don thinks of all the possible crimes committed.

"Same problem. We don't have any actual proof that he did it." Maria pulls out a metal bar from her pocket and throws it to Don, who grasps it in his hands. "You'll be needing that for your lab work. You're officially back on technological adaptation research duty AND you'll be developing anything that could possibly be used to take this guy out. Your friend Hank is continuing his Super Soldier Research, Bruce will remain on clean energy duty, and I'll find someone to try and track him down."

Don nods to show he understands, then spins on his feet and walks out. He presses a small, dark blue button on the end of the bar, and a holographic image appears. The words 'Don Blake: Technological Adaptation Department Head appear, along with a picture of Don. "Things like this make work worth coming to." He smiles as he enters the elevator.

**Unknown Location, SHIELD Danger Classification: Unknown**

A pale-skinned man with dark brown hair and green eyes hands out weapons to his uniformed comrades. "You're a near-unknown terrorist group. You've got remarkable skills, I've seen them. Your problem, is that you lack motivation. You don't have the push to be what you can be." The Maker sits upon a large, metal chair that hovers slightly above the ground. "You're perfect for my plan. You're everything I need and more."

"What makes you think we'll ally ourselves with you?"

"Because, you know that everything I've said is true. It sounds unreasonable, but you know I am from your future. You know that I'm here to change it." The Maker smiles at them, "I need both Primes taken out."

"Sorry…BOTH Primes? There's another?"

"Not yet, but there will be." He laughs, "Currently, the only Primes is the range of Nuclear Missiles SHIELD has in that dastardly PEGASUS facility."

The man handing out the guns asks, "So what is the other?"

"You'll find out soon enough." He stands, his throne instantly shifting and sliding, tiny little pieces bouncing around, pulling inwards to form a cube, which simply disappears in a flash of light. "I will be leaving now. I trust you will be trained and prepared for the date I set?"

"How are we to contact you?" The distributor is the one to ask again. The others stand silently, barely moving at all.

"That would be me." They all turn to see a man standing in the shadows. He walks forward, entering the light. His ginger hair has a shine to it, similar to that of his bright blue eyes. He holds his hand out to shake with the leader of the group, who takes his hand firmly and shakes. "Name's Mordecai. I'll be the Maker's ambassador, so to speak." He looks to the Maker, "Do I call you that? Or can I call you…"

"No, the Maker will do."

"Yeah, but we're…" He falls into silence, "Maker. I'll contact you whenever there is a problem.

The Maker nods and smiles, "After this, heroes won't...no...from my point of view..." He smiles menacingly, "Heroes **don't** exist."


	8. Heroes Don't Exist: Part 2

**Chapter 6! SHIELD's new Director has arrived, some characters are suffering from trauma, a bit more about Don is learnt, and more! Prepare yourself, Heroes Don't Exist is right on track!**

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**Don Blake's Apartment, Manhattan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 3**

Don lies in his bed, asleep. He turns over, moaning in terror.

_Be somebody! Gaah! Please! I'm sorry! I'll stop! Your entire life has been worthless!_

"GAH!" Don falls from his bed.

_Does it pain you to know that all of this…came from this? You're pathetic! NO!_

Don hears the crackle of lightning in his head, the almighty clang of his hammer on the Iron Man armour. "NO!" His eyes snap open, staring up at the ceiling. A tear runs escapes his eye. "Oh sh**, what have I done?" He looks out the glass wall, at the rain and lightning streaking across the sky.

"Are you okay to continue? I can leave if you're in too much stress."

"No…no…I'm fine. Just a nightmare, that's all." He yawns and stands up, "If you want to go, that's fine by me."

"You know why I'm here. I need to save my…"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. It was a joke, as in not meant to be taken seriously." He walks to the glass wall, "It's just a bit stressful having you here."

"I can leave temporarily. Find someone else for a few days."

"No, we can do this." He picks up the hammer off the ground and walks to the door onto the balcony. He stands in the rain, wearing nothing but his pyjama pants, and steps up onto the railing. He gets his balance, then falls forwards and begins to plummet towards the ground. Suddenly, a flash of lightning bursts from the hammer, and his flight curves, flying upwards instead. He flies above the skyscrapers, and stops, hovering above the city, looking down at it. The rain hits his body. "Come on, together." He holds the hammer up.

"As in everything, comrade." A ghostly hand reaches up and holds the handle, right below Don's hand.

"Blake and Odinson, united!" He squeezes the handle, and watches as the lightning shoots up. The lightning spreads out, creating a magnificent display across the sky, like a giant spider web across the clouds. The lightning stops streaming from the hammer, and the light disappears, leaving the rain as it was, with Don nowhere in sight.

**SHIELD Summit, former Manhattan Bay, SHIELD Danger Classification: 8**

The blonde-haired, muscular Nathaniel Brock marches across the lobby. The people around him stop to salute. As he walks into the elevator, a shorter, dark-haired man rushes in. "Um…Director Brock, sir. My name is Samuel Wilson, I'm the head of SHIELD's Biological Research Department. I'm currently working on a collaboration with the Technological Advancement Department involving the development of a winged harness that would allow the wearer to…"

"Sounds promising, how much do you need?" He smiles as the elevator begins its' ascent.

"Um…well…we're not far off finishing the feathers for the wings, which is the most expensive stage." He takes a deep breath, "So anywhere between 200 and 500 million." He laughs nervously.

"Done. I'll have the money transferred to the Biology Department's account by Friday. Good luck with the wings." The doors open, "Nice meeting you, Mr Wilson." Nathaniel walks out and down the corridor. As he enters the large room filled with computers and workers, a silence falls. "Don't stop on my accord." He sits in the large, metal chair and looks out at the screens, while the agents get back to work. He looks around and sees Maria Hill, "I assume you're former Acting Director Maria Hill?"

She nods, and steps closer, "It's a pleasure to meet you in the person."

"No need to act like that. Just because we're in different jobs no, that doesn't mean you can pretend that night didn't happen." He winks, "What's the news on Kang? My files stop after the shaming of Fury."

Hill sighs and pulls out her holographic screen, "Okay, there was a supposed sighting of Kang in Thailand. Specifically, the island of Koh Samui. We've sent a squad of agents to monitor the island. It's pretty big, but if he's still there we'll find him."

"Okay, good. And what's this 'Maker' thing about? Anything new?"

"After the initial confrontation, we haven't seen him. His talk of time travel may actually be correct, because he's nowhere to be found." She smiles, "Fury's still persisting we continue the search, but as Director of SHIELD, it's your decision whether that happens or not."

Nathaniel thinks for a bit, then answers, "Drop the search. He seems intent on showing off, so he'll come to us eventually. Just make sure all agents are on high alert."

Suddenly, the alarms sound, the screens all around the room flash up with images of Kang. "Sir, Kang is currently four blocks away from us. Orders?"

Nathaniel thinks for a moment, "Get me a Flash Blaster, a Stealth Suit and a ribbon of grenades."

"Sorry, what?"

He looks at Hill, "I'm going to confront him myself. My entire life has been dedicated to fighting, I'm not going to stop now." He stands up and walks out.

**Four blocks away, SHIELD Danger Classification: 7…**

Kang stands, the 'Scarlet Centurion' rod in his hand. The glowing green lines on his suit are dim, barely visible at all. His blue mask shines in the light. He clenches his fist, the rod beginning to vibrate.

"Hands up, Kang!" Nathaniel lands on the roof, to large blasters at on him, one strapped to his back and the other in his hands, "I said…Hands. Up. Kang!"

"Nathaniel, how nice to see you again!" He turns to face the new Director of SHIELD, "I'm glad you made it."

"Hands up, and I'll talk to you." Kang instantly does it. "Why are you here?"

The terrorist smiles beneath the mask, "I'm here to find out who destroyed the Empire State Building!"

"Wait…you don't know? We assumed the two of you were in cahoots." Nathaniel lowers the blaster a bit. "You really weren't part of it?"

Kang scowls, "You know?" He rushes forward, becoming a blue of black, green and blue, "Tell me!" He stands before Nathaniel, tossing the blaster aside.

"He calls himself the Maker." The very word makes Kang step back. "Oh, so you do know him? Old friends? Old enemies?"

Kang takes several steps away from Nathaniel, then at the top of his lungs yells, "MORDECAI!" The sound booms, loud enough that the agents at the SHIELD Summit could hear.

"What?" The red-haired man appears. His blue eyes sparkling, "Oh, it's you." He sees Nathaniel and turns his nose up. "What is it? I was in the middle of arrangements!"

"What do you think you're doing!? You told me I would do all the work!"

"I don't understand. I haven't done anything."

Nathaniel looks confused, pulling his other blaster off his back and holding it up to Mordecai, "What's going on?"

"I know you didn't do it. Why did HE destroy the Empire State?"

"Seriously! Somebody explain to me what's going on!" Nathaniel grinds his teeth, "F*** it!" He fires at Kang, but the blast disperses around him.

"Nathan, please!" Kang thrusts the rod out and Nathaniel drops to the ground. "Why did the Maker destroy the Empire State!? That wasn't in the plan!"

Mordecai smiles, "The Maker is your 'master' so to speak, he's a genius, his plans change all the time. You're telling me he's an exception? You destroyed Big Ben, which wasn't in the plan. You shamed Fury and got this…" He looks at Nathaniel and scoffs, "…twerp…in the chair! You're changing the future yourself, so think before you speak!" He flicks a coin into the air, "Now…would you be so kind as to get back to your job?"

Kang sighs, "Fine. But tell the Maker I'm not his slave!" He disappears in a flash of light, Mordecai following shortly.

Nathaniel lies on the ground. Suddenly, he hears a beeping in his ear, "Director Brock, we need you back at the Summit! We're currently being hacked."

"God damn it! Can't I catch a break today!?"

**SHIELD Summit Medical Bay, SHIELD Danger Classification: 8**

Tony lies in his armour, unconscious, on a slab. Hank Pym stands by him, with a nurse, "We can't take the armour off of him. As far as we're aware, it's the only thing keeping him alive as far as we're aware."

Hank looks at him, "When I said I wanted something bad to happen to you, I didn't mean something like this." The nurse leaves, "Don's sorry. He didn't mean to beat you up this bad. He got caught in the moment, you know how he is. After his kid died he's had anger problems." He sighs, "I'll be seeing you, good luck with healing and all." He begins to walk away, BOOM! The entire building shakes. "What the hell was that!?"

"All SHIELD Agents are to report to floor 13, repeat, all SHIELD Agents are to report to floor 13."

"Oh cr**!" Hank rushes to the stairs and begins to hurry up, passing the 'Floor 15' sign. He reaches the 18th floor and runs through the corridors until he comes to his lab. He sees his assistant, "Scott! Grab everything you can! We're moving this all now!" He rushes to the glass window and looks down, seeing black smoke down below.

"What's going on?"

"I have no idea! Some sort of explosion." He sees Kang briefly, "Stop!" Scott stands still, a stack of files in his arms. "We're doing it."

"But sir, it's only experimental! It could kill you!"

"It doesn't matter! If it works, I could potentially take out a terrorist." He rushes over to a bench and sits on it, "Do it…now!" Scott stares at him, then grabs a strange device with a needle on it and approaches Hank. "No time to go slow, just inject me!"

"Okay, sir." He stabs the needle into Hank, and pulls a trigger on the device. Visible through a small glass 'window' in the device, a golden liquid rushes through, into Hank's bloodstream. He suddenly roars with pain as the few veins visible through his skin turn become golden, only briefly however, and then returns to normal. He lunges off of the bench and smacks into a tiled column.

"GAH!" He grabs his chest, "I…I can't feel my…" ZAP! A flash of electricity bursts from his hand. "ARGH!"

Scott watches in both horror and amazement, "Sir! Sir, it's working! Project Wasp actually works!"

Hank calms down, "Okay, that's better…" He yawns, then looks at his hands and concentrates on shooting electricity. ZAP! It works, with a bolt jumping from his finger tips to a metal tap about a metre away. "Time to take out a terrorist!"

**Bruce Banner's Labs, two floors above, SHIELD Danger Classification: 8**

Bruce shoves files into a bag. "Hurry, Banner, hurry." He breathes heavily, quickly stopping to pull out his inhaler and take a puff, "Gotta save everything!" He hurries around, breathing so heavily he starts to become dizzy a trips, crashing to the ground.

"Dr Banner! It's been a while!" Bruce looks up to see Kang standing metres away.

"Gah! What…what do you want!?"

Kang crouches down and smiles, "I'm here to unleash the monster."

Obviously confused, Bruce asks the terrorist, "What monster…?"

"The jolly green giant who's been growing inside of you for the past six years. He's ready to activate." He pushes his mask up, revealing his mouth, but stopping him from looking at Bruce, "He just needs a bit of a drug boost." He pulls out a syringe, and takes the plastic cap off. "Goodbye Banner…" He stabs the syringe into Bruce's arm.

"No! Ah!" After some blood splatter, the needle begins to pump in a disgusting green liquid.

"Six years ago you were the unwilling experiment of an experimental super soldier project…but it didn't work. Sure, it altered your genetics, gave you that weak spine of yours. It created holes in your genetics, holes that substituted. It came out incorrectly though, so now? Now we correct it!"

Bruce's skin begins to bulge and contract. "What have you…" At this point, his voice turns deeper, "…done to me!?"

"I've unleashed the wounded beast within. Goodbye Banner…helloooo Hulk!" Banner manages to pull himself up into a standing position, before his body bursts outwards, tearing apart his clothes. His skin becomes green during the expansion, black pigment shooting from the roots of his hair, turning it black, and then his eyes become bloodshot, the iris turning yellow, the white becoming grey.

"Hulk…!? Wha are you tal-ing bout? Wha i Hu…" He stops, taking several deep breaths, then roars, vibrating the entire building. Then in a quieter, but still loud, voice, he says, "Hulk smash!"


	9. Heroes Don't Exist: Part 3

**Floor 13, SHIELD Summit, SHIELD Danger Classification: 9**

Agents hurry around the floor, looking for Kang. "He's down here somewhere!" Suddenly, the ceiling of one of the many conference rooms on that floor bursts open, with Kang dropping to the floor. He pulls out a gun and begins firing, killing all the agents in the room in mere moments.

"Idiots!" Before any more agents can make it in, the ceiling of another room bursts open, another Kang dropping through and killing the agents in that room. The first crouches down and disappears in a blue flash of light, as a third Kang drops into another room. A number of Kang's drop and disappear, killing all the agents on the floor. The final Kang drops down, kills the agents in the corridor and takes a few breaths. He then hears a massive roar, and smiles, "Here comes the Hulk." He disappears.

**SHIELD Summit Medical Bay, Floor 4, SHIELD Danger Classification: 9**

Tony's unconscious body lies in his armour, on the metal slab. The Hulk's almighty roar booms through the room, despite the distance between them. The armour vibrates, as well as everything else in the room. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! ZAP! Stark's eyes burst open, he jumps into a sat-upright position. "AAARGH!" He takes deep breaths, each one hurting due to his fractured rib. "JARVIS, turn off Life-Support Settings, activate Cardiovascular Extremis Injections, I want this body fixed and ready in two minutes."

The mechanical voice of JARVIS replies, "Yes, Mr Stark, it would be my pleasure. Might I say glad to have you alive and well? Should I charge up the repulsors?"

_You know Hank spent years working on it, and then you steal his research the moment his back is turned…_

Don's voice rings through Tony's head, "No. In fact, I want all repulsor technology removed immediately. Get it all out. Anything not made by me is out!"

"But sir, that would leave you weaponless."

Tony thinks for a moment, then answers, "All I want is the stuff made by StarkTech. 400W Tasers, Flash Cannons, Electromagnetic Pulse emitters, and whatever micro-missiles and bullets I built into this damn thing." As he speaks, several devices drop from the suit. "JARVIS, scan the building, what's going on?"

"Yes sir. Accessing StarkTech ORBITAL Satellite network." Lights flash inside the armour, "An explosion on the 13th floor. Minor explosion with a high vibrational emission."

Tony hears lots of noise above, and rushes through the corridors until he comes to a room with a glass window. He jumps through and the jets of his armour kick in, propelling him upwards.

"Sir, it seems something is happening on Floor 20. The satellites have picked up on a faint, but noticeable trace of gamma radiation."

"Floor 20? Any record of what's there?"

JARVIS replies after several seconds, "Files show that Floor 20 is the Clean Energy Department. Hacking SHIELD files…only SHIELD employee signed into that floor today is Dr Bruce Banner. All other employees designated to that department have the day off."

The armour comes to a halt at the 20th floor, looking through the glass wall. He sees a massive, green monster, "Please say that isn't Banner!" He then notices Kang talking to the beast, and fires a small missile through the glass wall and into the lab.

"Pathetic!" The missiles explodes a mere inch of the terrorist's body. The flames and smoke dissipate and Kang is revealed to be intact, with not a single mark on his suit at all. VZAP! A strange, blue energy shoots towards Tony.

Swerving out of the way, Tony yells, "So that's how you want it?" He quickly changes position and shoots forward, grabbing Kang and soaring through the wall, and the numerous other ones before he flies through a conference room and out the glass window of that room. He heads away from the SHIELD Summit and drops Kang.

"GAH!"

He swoops down and grabs him, "WHO ARE YOU!?"

"You can't know! You can never know!" He laughs, when Tony drops him again, "Aaargh!"

"TELL ME WHO YOU ARE!" He swoops down and grabs him again.

"Okay? You want to know? You really want to know?" He laughs again, "Not telling!" Tony drops him, but Kang's fall is short-lived as he begins to hover high above the street. "Fine! If you're that concerned with my identity, I'll tell you!" He lowers his head, and takes the mask off. His black hair droops down in front of his face as he looks up. Stark watches in horror at the identity of Kang.

"How…what? But…WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?" His helmet opens up and he lowers to Kang's height, and moves forward, "Why…?"

"Because you could never be happy with what you had! Even when you supposedly redeemed yourself you were a demon in a bottle, waiting to crawl out and suck the life out of everything." He smiles, "I'm going to change the future! Make the world a better place. Did it never occur to you the pattern in the attacks?"

"What is it?"

"Most of them were StarkTech funded! Admittedly, a few weren't. Big Ben, Afghanistan, but the dozens of other disasters were aimed at you!"

"Dozens…? But there's only been…"

"Think about it, nimrod! How could I get between places so quickly? How could I possibly be here!?"

Tony's face lights up, "Time travel!" He gulps.

"Yes! Now you're getting it! I've been active since the very begin. Stark Enterprise's first building? The fire? Ring any bells? And then of course the bomb attack on the hospital you were born in, that propelled shrapnel into your chest. And of the many others, time after time, after time! I have always been the one, the one who brings you misery!"

"I can't believe YOU of all people would do this! What happened to you?"

"I realised the error of your ways, and that's when I truly died, and Kang was born." He smiles, "I remember being confronted by Mordecai, who knew my pain, and wanted to help me get my revenge. He introduced me to his boss, the Maker. The Maker was more sympathetic towards me, because like me he had seen the error of his ways, and wished to guide himself down a better path. And that's why he wanted me. I'm the guy who jumps in and does the dirty work, and he gets to guide himself down a better path. One of grandeur and splendour. Heck, even the reason all this is happening!" He looks at the damage to the SHIELD Summit and smiles, "All of this…because of you!"

"You're a monster!" A small missile fires from his shoulder, but it's the same as before and he comes out unharmed.

A near-ear-piercing roar booms through the air, "That's my cue to leave. Good luck with the Hulk, you'll need it." He disappears in a flash of blue light, "Goodbye Tony."

**Floor 18, SHIELD Summit, SHIELD Danger Classification: 9**

Hank stumbles across the room, smacking into the wall. He vomits, falling to his knees, "Scott, get out!"

"Yes, sir!" Scott rushes across the room and down the corridor.

"Take the stairs! Get out of the building!" Electricity shoots from his hand, and with one final hurl, he jolts up. "That's better!" He takes a big step over the pool of vomit and rushes through the corridor. Suddenly, a massive roar booms through the building. He realises it's from upstairs and begins sprinting up the stairs. He gets to the 20th Floor, beginning to run up to the next one when there's another roar. He turns around and rushes back to Floor 20. Quickly searching through the corridors, he comes across Banner's lab, only to see a massive, extremely muscular, green behemoth. "WHAT THE HELL!?"

The Hulk looks up and roars, "HULK…!" It begins to run at Hank, who begins to run as well. "HULK SMASH!"

As Hank rushes into the stairwell, the wall smashes open, the Hulk barging through, CRACK! The Hulk groans and slumps to the floor. Hulk spins around at the edge of the stairs to see the beast lying on the ground, unconscious. Don stands by its' head, hammer at hand, and a fierce look on his face.

"_This beast is unlike anything I have seen before_. I must say the same, I have not seen such a foul creature in all my years of living. _It is worse than the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, slay it!_ Are you mad? This beast needs to be tested. Its' true origins discovered!"

"Don!?" Hank watches, slightly scared, "Are you talking to yourself?"

Don looks at him, "No. Just coming to terms with my reflection." He looks at the beast, then swings his hammer and smacks it. The floor breaks and the Hulk falls to the next floor. "If you don't mind, I need some help. He jumps down the hole and uses his hammer to the knock the Hulk through the wall into another lab.

Hank follows behind, "What is that thing?"

"I have no idea." He takes a deep inhale, then shoots electricity across the room, destroying all the lab benches. The sprinkler system sets in and drenches the whole room in water. "Damn. Didn't think about that. That's my electricity out."

"What'd I miss?" Tony bursts into the room, "Anything good?"

Seeing Don glare at Tony, Hank says, "Don, we could use some extra weapons in this."

Don sighs, "Get Hank's repulsors ready."

"Um…about that. I got rid of them."

Don looks surprised, "Maybe you do have some hope for changing after all. Get…whatever you have left ready."

"JARVIS, prepare missiles. I want no delays, just fired." The launchers flip out of the shoulder pieces, "I'm ready."

Suddenly, the Hulk stirs, "HULK SMASH!"

Tony, Hank and Don stand around the Hulk, ready to attack. "Hank, how powerful are those blasts? We might need them."

The Hulk stands, panting. It roars, then swings at Don, who smacks the fist away with his hammer. "GRAAAH!"

Hank lunges forward and zaps the Hulk, causing him to step backwards in both shock and pain. "He can feel it!"

Tony fires a small missile at the Hulk, "Get down!" The three run and drop to the floor as the Hulk becomes engulfed in flames. They stand up, only to see the behemoth unharmed, in the exact same condition he was before. "How…how did he…?"

"HULK…HULK…HULK SMASH!" He swings, knocking Stark into the wall. Hank ducks and lunges under the beast's arm and smacks his hand into its' chest, releasing a blast of electricity. "GRAAAH!" It takes a deep breath, then roars. Hank jumps back, putting his hands over his ears.

Don runs over to the Hulk and swings the hammer, which collides with its' rib and sends it flying across the room, out the glass wall and falling to the concrete ground below. Tony sits on the ground, "I need a rest, still not…up to shape."

Hank leans against the wall and gasps for air, "Same…we've done almost nothing and we're exhausted."

Watching them, Don asks, "Are you okay if I go down there?" They both nod, too busy taking deep breaths to talk. Don turns and runs, jumping out of the whole in the glass left by the Hulk. As he falls, he bellows, "This ends here!" The Gravity Harness in his armour takes effect and he swings into an upright position, slowing down, but not so much that when he reaches the bottom and smacks his hammer into the Hulk's back that it is a weak hit. The beast roars in pain as the metal fractures its' spine.

The Hulk gets up onto its feet, "GRAAH! BLAKE PUNY!" He swings to hit Don, who braces himself for the attack quickly.

CRACK! A circular metal object hits the Hulk's head, confusing it enough so that it stumbles back and falls to the ground. "You okay, soldier?" Don looks up at the person who had thrown the disc.

"And who would you be?"

The man wears a blue costume, with some grey areas, red and white stripes on the stomach and a SHIELD logo on each shoulder. "I'm Captain America." He smiles, "Ready to take out this beast?"


End file.
